Means for reducing crank-case dilution in internal-combustion engines



May 15, 1928.

E. W. EVANS MEANS FOR REDUCING GRANK CASE DILUTION IN INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Aug. 9, 1927 gnou/oz r4/PLE' MVA/vs. 35%@ www?@mag i 'Patented May 15,1928.

Y untreu gsrarEs EARLE'W. EVANS', or LINDEN, NEW JERSEY.

i t insana Application 'led August 9, 1927. Serial No. 211,689.`

This invention relates ,'to internal combustion' engines 'and vprovidesa means for constantly maintaining .the llubricating oil in' a.condition vfor proper 'lubrication ofthe engine. yThis objectis'accomplished by'heat ing the oil,` preferably in the manner as ishereinafter set forth in detail, whereby any j portions ofthe fueladmixing with the oil are y i y struction and J arrangement 1 of thevarious substantially or completely removed therefromand theVternperature ofthe oi'l 'is maintained at a point necessary `forrjnostelncient operation ofthe engine. 'A Y Internal combustion 'engines whenfirst started and until heated to the proper l"opi 16"eratingtemperatura or when operating un- "der V'certain L'serviceconditions,v usually ffail 'to vrun eficie'ntly until the temperature of)the engine jand 'of the lubricating oil employed th'ere'in'h'ave beenfraised considerably 20 'above the atmospheric conditions. During thistime the ilub'ricant l generally undergoes .dilution lby the "additionthereto fofr uncon- -fsurned or `heavier ends "of the fuel employed inthe engine. Continued'dilution ofthe oil vsoon impairs itsl'l'ibricating qua'litieslto 'such an extent thatgreatfdaniage'may-be'done to "the 'engineunless J'the oil is 'frequently Y changed.The'changing ofthe oil inan enlgin'e can be made less rfrequent andnecessary if means 'are employed for' removing the dilutingV1fractions/in tlieflufbricant, for examp'le' by heating means.'Although various means offheatingthe oily used in an internal combustionengine havefbee'n proposed 'heretojfo're, none Voflt'h'ese earlier-meanshave been particularly "successfulv in accomplishing the objectsdesired. y

In, an application, :Serial No. 206,161a vfiled i iJuly 16,1927, lI haveshoWn't-hat 'crank case dilution can ybe substantially prevented vbymaintaining the oil in the crank casein heat exchange relationship withthemediumfem- .ployedas a cooling means in the engine by {bypassing theradi'at'orand'owing the heated Vmedium Yfrom `the cooling jacket of theengine .through an heat 'exchange'u'nit coni tact with the 'lubricatingoil,-;preferably in' the oilsump. Thave' now Vfurther found that iequally eicient' `engine operation jean vbe realizediby withdrawingtheoili'fromthe engine crank case and flowing the'foil th-rough va jacketsurrounding the outlet manifold from the cylinder'he'ad Waiter Ijacket"of 'thev ,enginel whereby/the oilfisrvplaced in `an"'ifndirect heatexchange .relationship lwith -the het 'water er ettari-raming from thenaar 'tion of `the various parts.'

'2l is yan enlarged view `r`in section )of the heat exchangeunit.

'manifoldiftothe radiator.l these means,

the lighterdiluen't fractions of the oil fare removedft-herefrom whiletheor'iginal Vprop lerties oftheoil are practically completely restoredthereto. Moreover, the temperature 'ofthe-oil is thereby maintained at aLpoint necessary formost e'liicient engine operation. ,-Othermeans andnovel features inthe c'onparts'of the device are brought 'out and 'ex-'plained in more detail in the followingdescription, which for a clearAunderstanding invention. 'It Iis to be noted inthisconnection, `thatvininorjchanges in .the k'construction andl arrangement of parts 4may'be made With-` ont departing from 'the yprinciple of .opera- Theinventionv is clearly' illustrated vin the 'accompanying drawingsYinwhichFigure 1 isy a diagrammatic side 'elevation of 'an enginev'embodying the' inventicm,v and "Figure of details Referring to thediavvings, an "internal fcombustion engine, 1 is ,provided with theusual 'cylinder head outlet vmanifold 2, l'connected fby pipes 3 withthe 'enginefcooling yjacket and also connected'to Vthe radiator 4. Atthe bottom, the radiator t' is connected by 'a Ypipe 5to the Water pump(not shown) or'in thethermosyphon typeof engine cool- 'ing is connecteddirectly .with the `.engine cooling jacket. A 'fan' @carriedbyfthe shaft`7 and driven 4inthe l"ordinary vmanner is ltA cated' as'usualback oftheradiator 4 to draw `air through the same. lThis vsyste'mfas'describedvcornprises the ordinary circulating i system .for a coolingmediumvfound"inY-internal combustion engines used in .automobiles orotherwise."

*The 'cylinder 'head' outlet manifold 2 Ikthrong-h which r"the heatedAengine cooling" -`mediur'n is conducted from "the engine to'theoutlet', is surroundedby ajacketS which is yinteriorly provided with `aplurality-of bafies 9 spaced apart and 'alternately procu'itous cou'rsefor liquid and' va ors'iiowing therethrough. pipe .'10 lea s from "themu y jectingas shown ifrom the header2and *en-C Y veloping jacket v8 so`asf'to 'providev afci'r- Y main 'oilcirculatin'g .lineier preferably'from A the oil pump il and discharges into the jacket surrounding ktheheader 2. A thermostat l2 controls the rate of'flow of liquid `throughthis pipe.

By the means described, oil from the eni gine crank caselS iswithdrawntherefrom and pumped through the` line l into Vthe jacketenveloping the outlet header 2. The oilv so flowing through` the jacketismaintained in the jacket under the pressure im,- posedI thereon. bythe' pump., Lubricating oil usually becomesv more or less diluted `dur-`ing its use in engines due tothe addition thereto of unconsumedportions of the -fuel employed. Such oil upon flowing through thejacketv 8 in the manner as described, be-

comesl heated by ther hot water .or steam.

passing through-theoutlet header 2 and the lighter fractions admiXed inthe oil are va porized.l These vapors, together with the hotnon-vaporized .lubricating oil, are fdis- Vcharged fromthe jacketthrough an opening V14;v leading into an expansion chamber 15maintained. substantially at atmospheric pressure or at a ressure lowerthan that exyerted in the jac et. An opening 16 at the front .portion ofthe expansion -chamberperj mits a gas, such as air, to enter the chamberand sweep out the vapors therein away from the chamber through line 17'which may be connected with the carbureter or may discharge such vaporsinto the air. Residual lubricating,V oil substantially free `from alllighter fractions theiioverfiowsffrom the eX-y i pansion chamberlthrough .linev 18 and discharges below the surface of the oil in the'engine crank casei 13.A

Instead of providing the expansion chamber l with the air inlet portasshown, it

has been found possible to maintain a slight but suficientpsuction onthe chamber by connecting theline 17 with the intake manifold therebytransferring the, vapors directly `froinfthe chamber to the carbureter.Moreover, ifV desired, the line 18,"through which-thehot'oil isconducted from thcexpansion chamber to the oilsump,r1nay be placed heatexchange relationship with the fuel line to the carhureter whereby thefuel maybe preheated.

" By the means described, the oil is substantially stripped ofthelighter diluting fractions present and thev lubricating oil :in the sumpis maintained in a. conditionI most suit.- able foreiiicient'lubrication` Furthermore, the use of the construction setforth causes the engine to attain normal operatingcon-` ditions morequickly than is possible with the ordinary engine. i i A y It isV knownthat an internal combustion engine does not operate inthe Vmosteficientmanner 'until' the engine. and lubricant have reached a temperatureconsiderably above atmospheric. The heating of the engine to thenecessary temperaturetakes place rather l Slowly, particularly in; coldweather.' It is during the period of operation while the en` gineislieating up thatcrank case dilution occurs ysince'the enginetemperature is not high' enough to vaporize the higher boiling fractionsofthe fuel supplied thereto.v Gonn sequently, by the use of the meansdescribed, the lubricating'oil is quickly heated and thel possibility ofexcessive crank caseA dilution is lessened.` vhiloreover, what dilutionmay occur is removed in the manner hereinbefore explained. Theseadvantages. may be rea- ;,lized even ,more quickly by interposing a4 y.thermostatic valve in a water line 2 lea-ding tothe. radiatorfwherebythe return of'cooling medium .to the radiator `is preventedk until thetemperature of the enginel has reached the point desired.

'.Another advantage realizedfroni the usel i of the invention set forthis the more uni form operation of the Aengine due to the continuousheatingy of the lubricant. .Where lno oil heating Ameans, are provided,the vengine due. to varying conditions met' lin service. By heating. theoil, however, in the ,mannery set forth, the engine temperature' y1s acon- `temperature fluctuates between "wide" limitev stantly maintainedmore nearly yunifor1n.", than has'heretofore been considered possible.`

If," however, the engine shouldbecome overheated,the'thermostatic vvalvel2 inline l0 "closes vthereby shuttingoif therflo'w of oil 'throughttheheatingV jacket until' the temperature'of the engine has been loweredto a point where further ,heating ofthe lubricant is desirable.v

. s As many changes canbe l'made in the above construction and manyapparently `widely K.

different embodiments of the vinvention can be made without departingfrom theI scope thereof, it is intended that all matter con-A tained inthe above description or'shown in the accompanying drawings'` shall beinterpretedas "illustrative, only v,and not'at all" limitative of thescope of my invention.

Itis also to be understood that the` lan- .guage einployedin theappended claims is` intended to co-verallthe generic as well asy thespecific features of the invention Aherein described,

sump, an oill pump, aline from said pump',

toI the jacket, and av line from the expansion chamber to theoil sump.

viusk 3. In an internal combustion engine, in

combination, a cooling fluid outlet header, a f

jacket enveloping said header, means Within said jacket for kcausing theliquid4 flowing therethrough to assume a circuitous course, an expansionchamber connected with the jacket, means for removing vapors from saidexpansion chamber, an oil sump, an oil pump, a line from said pump tothe jacket and a line from the expansion'chamber to the oil sump. v

4. In any internal combustion engine, in combination, a cooling fluidoutlet header, a jacket enveloping said header, baffles Within saidjacket, an expansion chamber connected with the jacket, pressurereducing means connected With the expansion chamber, an

oilsump, an oil pump, an oil conduit from- 5. In an internal combustionengine, in-

combination, a cooling fluid outlet header, a jacket enveloping saidheader, baliles Within said jacket, an expansion chamber connected Withthe? jacket, an air` inlet port in said chamber, a vapor outletlinefro-mthe expansion chamber to the carburetor, anr oil sump, an oil pump, anoil conduit from the pump to the jacket, a thermostatic valve in saidconduit and a line from the expansion.

chamber to the oil sump. j

yIn testimony whereof I have aixed my signature.

c EARLE W. EVANS.

